Jones Choro

From the Chrisser Bear himself:

"I am in Japan now using a computer in the city hall. It is the only computer in Toyooka that has a computer with accessible internet to the public. We are lucky to have email because ldsmail is the only thing that works. Soshite, Toyooka is a small rural town in the Kyoto region on the other side of the coast from Kobe.



I got to Japan, crashed from jet lag, woke up at 5:45, and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with our Mission President and mom. She is an awesome cook and they are really, really neat. We stayed there for two days receiving a lot of training. Then we got our trainers. My new companion is named Kunihiro Choro, he is from Fukuoka and is a Nihonjin. He speaks rough English so there is a communication barrier, but he is still an incredible person. He is diligent in his work and knows the area very well.

Toyooka is very fun, we`re working very hard. My bike comes in tomorrow and will cost about 40,000 yen. that`s about 400$. So here bikes are a little expensive because of the rurual area, the main area of Toyooka has only about 90,000 people here. Our branch is very small, there are only 30 people in the ward and all are super amazing, they are so happy and their faith is so so strong. We have two investigators right now, Yamaguchi san and Oike san. We plan to atleast baptize Yamaguchi san by the end of this transfer. This may be a little challenging because she is having a lot of family problems, but God will help her.

Kunihiro choro is an awesome companion, I`ve learned so much Japanese from him because that`s really all I can speak to get my point across to him. There are four of us here in Toyooka, and when we introduced our selves to the members they were so excited to have four missionaries in the area, it`s the first time they ever had this many missionaries here in Toyooka. Of the four of us I`m the only one who doesn`t know Japanese at all, but that`s alright, I can slowly hear the Japanese make sense, I can get the rough meaning out of the conversations. Like yesterday, Kunihiro taught this woman that we housed and taught her the whole first lesson and a bit of the second. That was really cool because at first she wasn`t interested but as we talked the spirit practically punched her in the stomach. If she shows up to Eikaiwa (English lessons) tonight I think we`ll have a new investigator and maybe a baptism she was that interested.

Toyooka is wonderful, its nestled in the mountains with plenty of rice fields and a major river flowing through called Murayama. This place is so wonderful, I love Japan so much and the work is so hard but so much fun. We get kindly rejected everyday, but occasionally we`ll find someone who will listen to our message and we pray that they`ll listen to more. We have to dig to find those few elect individuals, and some times it takes some witty words, but it`s still a wonderful challenge. I have no idea what people are saying, but when I speak I try to give it power because I know I`m slaughtering the language. This place is wonderful, not only is the food delicious but the people are so nice and the kids, who don`t know who we are, scream and run up to their parents saying something about a special gaijin is here (gaijin is foreigner). Sometimes I catch a lot of peoples attention. I apologize if this is terrible typing, I`m still trying to adjust to the keyboards here.

The adventures have been great, right now I`m using an old missionaries bike until I get mine tomorrow that this falling apart mile by mile. Japan is so wonderful, my companion is a pro cook, and there are so many wonders here. If only I could bring people these lessons, they all hide behind several different reasons the two most common are that they are Buddhist and busy. Most of the people probably don`t even know what they worship through Buddhism, but that`s what they say when they don`t want to hear the message. The one girl that we talked to yesterday and placed a book of Mormon and two lesson pamphlets started with that, "Oh I`m Buddhist, not interested", but I replied "That`s okay, because this message is for anyone, it does not matter what you believe, it`ll make you happy" (remind you it was in very, very, very broken Japanese. When she asked me how long I`d been studying I told her two and a half months and she freaked out. When she found out that I was only 19 she was even more astonished, then she was willing to let Kunihiro teach her. Somehow, I have good hopes in this lady.

Well, family, I love you very, very much but I don`t have time to saunter around in daydreams of America so I`ll send a letter telling a few more stories if I have time today because I really want to take a nap. I`m exhausted. P-Days are great no? Anyways, my companion is sleeping on the seat next to me so I better wake him and go. The work is great, challenging, but worth it when you see the Japanese smile. These people are so nice, sometime getting politely rejected is a little let down. I hope some old man chases me through a forest or something so that I can get the "missionary rejected experience". Well, be very careful in your works, tell mike to be good that he`s doing the right thing because this work is wonderful.

Have a Good Day, love your Toyooka faring missionary.

Christopher Michael Jones Choro"